SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
May 1, 1923. 
Mr. Oakes Ames, 
355 Commonwealth Avenue, 
Boston, Massachusetts. 
Dear Mr. Ames: 
Today I had a letter from Dr. van Severln in Tela 
in which he mentioned having visited you while you were 
in that town reoently. He also stated that he was send¬ 
ing me some plants that he had collected. I presume he 
does not have much time to devote to such matters, hut 
I hope that he may he able to make a small collection 
there, for we need the specimens so hadly. I was enter¬ 
tained hy Dr. van Severln at various times while I was 
in San Salvador, and enjoyed the visits very much. He 
has a charming family and two attractive daughters, one 
of whom has published various volumes of poems. I 
suppose that his family is not in Tela. 
Mr. Maxon seems to have found your Honduran ferns 
decidedly interesting, and I only wish that we had a 
proportionate representation of the flowering plants of 
the Honduran coast. When getting together the data con¬ 
cerning the collectors, I was really surprised to find 
that so little had been done there, although I knew that 
in our herbarium we had little from Honduras . 
Both Doctor Robinson and Doctor Britton were in 
Washington last week and I had an opportunity of speak¬ 
ing to them about my plans for the coming winter. Of 
oourse, to Doctor Britton it is immaterial where I go, 
and as usual he will contribute to the trip. Doctor 
Robinson also is favorably inclined, and stated that he 
hoped to be able to give financial aid. He does not 
look with so much favor, however, upon a trip to Costa 
Rica, and said that he would much prefer to have me go 
to western Honduras, where no collecting whatever has 
ever been done. I told him that I should ask your views 
upon the matter before proceeding further. 
We know definitely that there are a great many or¬ 
chids in Costa Rica, and it is certain that there are 
not nearly so many in western Honduras, for there are no 
very high mountains there. I should like to do some 
